eric parker Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 hi, i was cutting up a copper beech the other day, and i thought the wood was so nice, that i'd cut a raw plank with the chainsaw for a future stock maybe. Its a bloody heavy chunk of wood, pretty 'green'. How would you deal with it? Do i just leave it under cover to season for a very long time (a year?) or do i need to treat it now? cheers for help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasons gold Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 hi, i was cutting up a copper beech the other day, and i thought the wood was so nice, that i'd cut a raw plank with the chainsaw for a future stock maybe. Its a bloody heavy chunk of wood, pretty 'green'. How would you deal with it? Do i just leave it under cover to season for a very long time (a year?) or do i need to treat it now? cheers for help Leave it for longer than that but dry it very slowly to avoid cracks as this will be a inherent weakness in the stock and possibly dangerous, dont treat it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasons gold Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 hi, i was cutting up a copper beech the other day, and i thought the wood was so nice, that i'd cut a raw plank with the chainsaw for a future stock maybe. Its a bloody heavy chunk of wood, pretty 'green'. How would you deal with it? Do i just leave it under cover to season for a very long time (a year?) or do i need to treat it now? cheers for help Leave it for longer than that but dry it very slowly to avoid cracks as this will be a inherent weakness in the stock and possibly dangerous, dont treat it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRS Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 hi, i was cutting up a copper beech the other day, and i thought the wood was so nice, that i'd cut a raw plank with the chainsaw for a future stock maybe. Its a bloody heavy chunk of wood, pretty 'green'. How would you deal with it? Do i just leave it under cover to season for a very long time (a year?) or do i need to treat it now? cheers for help depends on the thickness as to how long you leave it , maybe 7-10 years quarter the wood into over sized blanks and make sure the grain runs the right way , then wax the ends of the grain and check every 6 months watch for little boring things that eat wood and keep a check on the wax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wabbitbosher Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 It needs to dry slowly , as JRS said paint the ends with wax or just old paint the thicker the better , if you cut into blanks stack them with an air gap between them , use bits of dowl about 1/2 inch square , DONT put them in the loft they will get too hot in the summer , again dont store them in Damp conditions , a Cool dark garden shed is best , about 3 years per inch thickness "ISH" I have some bits of Walnut that had been stashed for over 10 years , some of it is good other bits have got a bit of beetle , some has gone a bit soft Have Fun !!! Wb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanibel686 Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 The key is wax the ends, if they dry out they shrink, which splits the wood, which dries out more from the crack, which then gets deeper. If you want to speed up the process then you can extract the moisture in a vac vac process if you "know" someone in a timber yard. but don't take it past around 85 degrees (from memory) which is the temp at which the cellulose cell walls break down. Also although it will have the correct moisture content after this process it won't be dimensionally stable so let it settle for at least a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric parker Posted February 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 cheers for the help guys, longer process than i thought! i'll get painting the ends. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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